Sick Product of a Sick System

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Directed by Tom Hooper, "The Danish Girl" is based on the 2000 novel with the same name written by David Ebershoff. The story is loosely based on the life of Einar Wegener, the first person to go through transgender surgery, and his personal struggles and relationship with his wife. In "The Danish Girl," performances are as important as the story itself. From the first scene I fell in love with Eddie Redmayne's acting and later paid more attention to Alicia Vikander, as Gerda Wegener, and her outstanding performance. Einar is going through a transformation progress to become Lili, and the perception of Gerda's infinite and everlasting love for her husband is the strongest point of the film. This performance brought Alicia Vikander an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. On the other hand, Eddie Redmayne's performance was critical for the film's reputation. He is becoming the master in disguise after his equally hard role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. That performance brought him an Oscar for The Best Performance by Actor in a Leading Role. One year later he came very close to win his 2nd Oscar for his performance in "The Danish Girl." The role of Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe is very hard to perform. Figures, gestures, mimics and feelings are very important. To master this particular role, you need to feel like Einar Wegener, and Redmayne's performance overcomes all the struggles of this role. With this kind of hard roles, you get to see the real talent of the artist.Controversial or sensitive subjects have always been rewarded in cinema. It is thought by the authorities that this kind of films always serve to the true purpose of art. I don't share this thought, but yet again I am not the one in power to decide what is good and bad for the audience. Films like "The Danish Girl" have a mission to show us the unspoken or hidden facts. Most of the time getting into these roles is not easy, and this is the reason why they are usually awarded.Camera shots behind the ballet clothes and paintings manage to make a difference in the means of Cinematography. Beautiful sceneries and identical Danish houses were shot with wide angles, and this technique shows us the importance of cinematography for a film. In "The Danish Girl," both Einar and his wife Gerda are painters. So, default setup of the scenes, with paintings and costumes all over, are preparing you for the grey mood presented throughout the film. Beautiful and diverse costumes also serve the purpose of the film. This brought another nomination to "The Danish Girl" for Best Achievement in Costume Design. The clothes Einar wear in disguise as a woman are matching both the era and the inner taste of Lili. Those costumes are somehow the visual representatives of her inner feelings as a woman.The perception of homosexuality back in 20s in Europe is another subject of the film. Tom Hooper focuses on all the struggles of Einar by showing some scenes that take courage to show. He goes to striptease shows and imitates the dancing woman. He goes to fish market to observe the gestures of women. He continuously imagines himself as a woman and getting beaten up once.Lili and Einar are two different characters. One of them is Einar's true form, and the other is the person he is forced to be. Social pressure tends to force you into personalities that don't represent you. If a person doesn't have strong state of mind, this forcing may end up in suicide. This is not the case for Einar. He is a strong character, and he knows that he is a woman inside. This is how he faces all the bumps on the road. Transgender surgeries are a matter of debate even today. In long term, this kind of films are going to build up the social acceptance. This is how cinema serves to society.With outstanding performances and an interesting subject, "The Danish Girl" encourages people with the similar situation to act and live their lives as they see fit. Being drama, history and biography, "The Danish Girl" is one of the good examples of these genres.

"The Danish Girl" tells the story of the first woman ever to experience the change into her body through operational measures. It shows how a Danish painter and husband recalls long-hidden feelings and finds the strength to stand up for his wish to get a female body, including all that means for his relationship and his beloved ones.First of all it is great that this movie evoked awareness for the feelings of transsexuals and I think that the given biography is more than worth being displayed on the screen. However, I didn't really get warm with this film and this is mainly because I find the display of Lily's transsexuality rather odd. The way it is displayed is really a bit schizophrenic, which transsexuality is clearly not. But I can't imagine any transsexual completely neglecting events or losing certain capabilities like the capability to draw just because they currently switched their gender, which is by the way also not how this works, because transsexuality doesn't transfer you into another person, it just adjusts your body to the person you are. This way, I found it rather hard to follow the film because it seems to be based on a difficult understanding of how transsexuality works, even though the actors delivergreat performances and the overall production value of the film is worthy without question. All in all I would have wished for less Hollywood scripted emotions and more real ones, a more sinister approach to how transsexuals, to make this film as great as its intentions.

Sad to see mental illness being normalized by Hollywood in this manner. My rating is 1 of 10. Hopefully people won't buy into this and see through the propaganda. Was hoping for much more, but I felt cheated leaving the theatre. Hoping for better future films for the talented cast.

Loosely based on a "real" story, the plot is about Einar Wegener/Lili, one of the first transgender people to undergo surgery. The story starts in 1926, with Einar happily married to Gerda. Both are painters, enjoying some fame in Copenhagen. One day Gerda asks Einer to wear silk stockings to pose for an unfinished portrait of a ballerina and from then on Einar starts discovering Lili, his "female" side, which will end up "killing" Einar.Gerda pursues her career and finds success with Einar's portraits as his female counterpart Lili. The couple moves to Paris, where Einar can leave more openly as Lili in the bohemian artist society. Also, Gerda meets a former friend of Einar, the brooding and all-male Hans, who stirs feelings presumably more pleasant than dealing with your husband's trans-sexuality.After several disastrous meetings with different doctors, all of whom think Einar is insane, a German surgeon finally announces he will try to help Einar getting rid of his male parts and start living fully as Lili. Gerda, supported by Hans, decides to stick to Lili's decision and stays with her "husband" during his medical treatment. However, surgery is a risky business, even more so a hundred years ago…. The movie created - predictably - some controversy. Some criticized the fictional character of Hans, but I think he provided a much needed masculine but discreet performance, to balance the Einar/Lili character. Vikander is really good in showing the strong mix of emotions Gerda felt during Einar's journey: from amusement to worry, from horror, desperation and rage and finally to support. I did not like much Redmayne as Einar/Lili. Granted it was a difficult part to play, but Redmayne drove me to distraction with his hands movements and his fluttering of eyelashes. Besides, he was not even remotely believable as a woman, just a guy in wig and drags. I am surprised he did not "attract" more bewildered reactions, especially during the first outing at the big ball in Copenhagen. That anybody there mistook him for a girl is ludicrous.Photography and costumes are very good, especially the choice of the cold, Nordic light and minimalist interiors. However, after the move to Paris, the story does slow down considerably and even more so after the first surgery, when I thought the movie should finish, but there was still a bit to go. A tighter editing and a different male lead would have helped.